Aeroacoustics Studies of Duct Branches with Application to Silencers

• Main Author: Karlsson, Mikael
• Format: Doctoral Thesis
• Language: English
• Published: KTH, MWL Strömningsakustik 2010
• Subjects: silencer; muffler; confined flows; flow duct; aeroacoustics; vortex sound; acoustic multiports; linear stability; self-sustained oscillations; whistling; Herschel-Quincke tube; acoustic resonator; Fluid mechanics; Strömningsmekanik
• Online Access: http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:kth:diva-29568; http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:isbn:978-91-7415-842-7

New methodologies and concepts for developing compact and energy efficient automotive exhaust systems have been studied. This originates in the growing concern for global warming, to which road transportation is a major contributor. The focus has been on commercial vehicles—most often powered by diesel engines—for which the emission legislation has been dramatically increased over the last decade. The emissions of particulates and nitrogen oxides have been successfully reduced by the introduction of filters and catalytic converters, but the fuel consumption, which basically determines the emissions of carbon dioxides, has not been improved accordingly. The potential reduction of fuel consumption by optimising the exhaust after-treatment system (assuming fixed after-treatment components) of a typical heavy-duty commercial vehicle is ~4%, which would have a significant impact on both the environment and the overall economy of the vehicle. First, methodologies to efficiently model complex flow duct networks such as exhaust systems are investigated. The well-established linear multiport approach is extended to include flow-acoustic interaction effects. This introduces an effective way of quantifying amplification and attenuation of incident sound, and, perhaps more importantly, the possibility of predicting nonlinear phenomena such as self-sustained oscillations—whistling—using linear models. The methodology is demonstrated on T-junctions, which is a configuration well known to be prone to self-sustained oscillations for grazing flow past the side branch orifice. It is shown, and validated experimentally, that the existence and frequency of self-sustained oscillations can be predicted using linear theory. Further, the aeroacoustics of T-junctions are studied. A test rig for the full determination of the scattering matrix defining the linear three-port representing the T-junction is developed, allowing for any combination of grazing-bias flow. It is shown that the constructive flow-acoustic coupling not only varies with the flow configuration but also with the incidence of the acoustic disturbance. Configurations where flow from the side branch joins the grazing flow are still prone to whistling, while flow bleeding off from the main branch effectively cancels any constructive flow-acoustic coupling. Two silencer concepts are evaluated: first the classic Herschel-Quincke tube and second a novel modified flow reversal silencer. The Herschel-Quincke tube is capable of providing effective attenuation with very low pressure loss penalty. The attenuation conditions are derived and their sensitivity to mean flow explained. Two implementations have been modelled using the multiport methodology and then validated experimentally. The first configuration, where the nodal points are composed of T-junctions, proves to be an example where internal reflections in the system can provide sufficient feedback for self-sustained oscillation. Again, this is predicted accurately by the linear theory. The second implementation, with nodal points made from Y-junctions, was designed to allow for equal flow distribution between the two parallel ducts, thus allowing for the demonstration of the passive properties of the system. Experimental results presented for these two configurations correlate well with the derived theory. The second silencer concept studied consists of a flow reversal chamber that is converted to a resonator by acoustically short-circuiting the inlet and outlet ducts. The eigenfrequency of the resonator is easily shifted by varying the geometry of the short circuit, thus making the proposed concept ideal for implementation as a semi-active device. Again the concept is modelled using the multiport approach and validated experimentally. It is shown to provide significant attenuation over a wide frequency range with a very compact design, while adding little or no pressure loss to the system. === QC 20110208